PuNJAB
POLLS 2012Waiting for a new dawn
It’s Basant Panchami - the first day of spring and the last day of the campaign for Punjab political parties.
At Lambi, the constituency of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the sky is a glittering blue, the earth is carpeted with golf-green wheat shoots and the crowds that gather at the political rallies with their colourful turbans.

Campaigning ends, over to votersChandigarh, January 28
The high-voltage campaigning for the January 30 Assembly elections in Punjab came to an end today evening with both the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and the Opposition, the Congress, putting in last-ditch efforts to woo the electorate.

A first: Death in drug trafficking caseChandigarh, January 28
In a landmark judgment, a local court today awarded death sentence to a drug peddler and 15 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) to a Burundi national in a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
(NDPS) case dating back to November 2007. The two were convicted on January 19 and the quantum of sentence was pronounced today.

Bangladeshi pirates kill
3 Indian fishermenKolkata, January 28
A gang of Bangladeshi pirates attacked three Indian trawlers in the Bay of Bengal killing three fishermen, including a father and a son, and hijacked one of these vessels holding 14 fishermen captive.
Nine fishermen were also injured in the firing by the eight pirates late last night off Kenduakhali in the Bay of Bengal, about 350 km from here, the police said today.

US
making powerful bomb to ‘hit’ IranWashington, January 28The US military has stepped up efforts to
make their largest conventional weapon, the 13.6 tonne “bunker-buster”
bomb, more powerful and capable of destroying Iran’s most heavily fortified
underground nuclear facilities. (Details on Worldpage)

82%
turnout amidst violence in ManipurCRPF man among five killed in attack
by suspected Naga rebelsGuwahati,
January 28
An 82 per cent of the electorate today exercised their franchise in Manipur
Assembly poll which was marred by militants' violence that claimed five lives
and left two injured.(Details on Nationpage)

AP
plans subsidised Aakash for studentsHyderabad, January 28
As a part of the initiative to promote e-learning, the Andhra Pradesh Government is planning to provide Aakash tablets to students at a subsidised price of Rs 1,500.
The state government has sent a proposal to the Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry in this regard.

Defeat without a fight puzzlingAussies roused themselves up & rose to the challenge
The last rites were delivered pretty quickly and as the mourners gathered around, they wondered how such a healthy entity barely eight months back could succumb so tamely and without even the semblance of a fight. Yes, in July last year India were the number one team in the world in both formats of the game.